I fell in love with great books almost as soon as I could read. My mum still has a special edition of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ books on her shelf. The first time I got through that book over the course of the six weeks summer holiday with the help of a dictionary but it did get easier. Reading ‘Dune’ became an annual ritual and I realised long before I’d studied for any exam in English that the mark of any great book is that it will reveal new secrets every time you read it.
It’s a principle that has guided not only my own writing but my decision after graduating to work with books. A great book can make you see the world in a new way, re-evaluate the way you live or simply be the most astounding entertainment you have ever encountered. Over the course of 13 years, I worked my way up from till jockey in a ‘chain-store’ bookshop to working in an independent bookshop and then onward and upward to management, following that one instinct: find the great stuff then share an appreciation of it.
I’m now moving on to something else, somewhere else. In May this year, I left England and moved back home to Scotland for a very good reason…
…well, I met Rose at university way back when and that’s all you need to know but the photographer’s own website can be found here.
I’m still writing and still painting. There are also a couple of projects in the pipeline but books remain my passion.
I’ve read a lot of books: some I’ve loved, a few I’ve hated and many have been so mundane, I can honestly say that the publisher wasted a tree.
To kick off, here’s my Top Ten (in no order because it depends on mood):
- Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed
- Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
- Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
- Lynn Coady, The Saints of Big Harbour
- Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang
- David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
- Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- Frank Herbert, Dune
- Chuck Palahnuik, Survivor
- Jeannette Winterson, Written on the Body
For a much, much bigger list of what makes a great read, go to the link at the side called ‘My favourite books’.
Meanwhile, there’s a load of writing to be done..
